Good morning, I still love you
by Cattyclam29
Summary: When Keith landed on planet Tsuru, he didn't think he'd even remember the planet's name a day later. The civilians there had an operating, balanced monarchy ruling over the land and were open to joining the Voltron Coalition. Honestly, it seemed like a stop-and-go planet that he'd probably forget about. BOY WAS HE WRONG! Also on AO3!
1. Chapter 1

**HIIIIII! I've kicked this around for so long, I'm glad to get it out even though the show is over... :'( We'll always love Keith and Lance and the rest of the characters, no matter how the creators abandoned them and their amazing story lines. Anyway, rant over! Enjoy, really, this is so much fluff. Love you guys!**

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When Keith landed on planet Tsuru, he didn't think he'd even remember the planet's name a day later. The civilians there had an operating, balanced monarchy ruling over the land and were open to joining the Voltron Coalition. Honestly, it seemed like a stop-and-go planet that he'd probably forget about. The only thing he might remember about this planet was how startlingly similar it was to Earth, aside from the fact that the citizens were slate grey and had small and big bumps mottling their skin like dragon leather, complete with horns sticking out from their foreheads.

The team had been led from the castle to another castle to meet the King and Queen. At this point, Allura and Shiro would take over the negotiations of the alliance and the rest of the team would sit back and look pretty. Keith spared a glance over at Lance, who was grinning and waving his fingers at the very young princess, who giggled on her throne. It wasn't ever hard for Lance to look pretty, he thought. He felt a warmth in his chest, seeing Lance interact with the young girl. Her teeny horns turned pink at the ends with a blush when she stuck out her tongue at Lance, who feigned hurt at the gesture. Lance stuck his tongue back out at her. Keith stopped himself from laughing at the childish display, only cute because it was Lance.

Lance noticed him watching and glared. Keith was taken aback by the look because what did he do? Keith frowned, upset and defensive. Lance grew more irritated, crossing his arms and turning away from Keith, who mirrored the action. Why did Lance hate him so much? He didn't even do anything wrong!

Keith sighed. This trip was turning out to be kind of crappy.

•••

The princess grinned when she saw the way the red and blue paladins crossed their arms and turned away from each other. What the red paladin didn't see was the sad, fond look the blue one secreted his way. Ah, unrequited love? No, the red one clearly liked the blue one back. They obviously hadn't realized that they had been chosen for their roles for a reason. That they were meant for each other. She sighed, happy for them. Sometimes the universe gave lovely little gifts like that.

But at this rate, maybe they just needed a little push in the right direction. She whispered a small spell and felt her fingers sizzle and glow with the magic. She grinned. This was going to get interesting. She walked up and reached out an innocent hand to the red one, who looked at her funny before slowly offering his hand with a small smile. She reached for the blue one's hand next, who smiled down at her with warmth, obviously used to dealing with children. Well these two were going to get along until they realized their destiny in each other. She quickly pulled their hands together until they held each other's hands and stepped back, satisfied. The spell was complete!

•••

Keith stared at the princess. Why had she come to him? He usually freaked out around kids, not knowing what to do if they got upset or something. Heck, Lace was standing right next to him, so why choose Keith instead? Keith let a small, nervous smile slip onto his face as he reached out a hand to take her outstretched one. His hand tingled, but he thought it may just be from the warmth of contact- something he seriously lacked.

He watched as she turned to Lance and held out her hand, a pit of dread digging into his stomach. Lance was already mad at him for no reason, and she was trying to make them interact! Lance smiled down at the dragon girl and took her outstretched hand. She smiled up at him and then in an instant had tugged their hands together. Once close enough, a magnetic pull had latched their hands together and then they were stuck.

Immediately, panic set in. Lance stared at their hands in horror and tried to yank his hand out of Keith's grasp, which only jostled his shoulder to hell. Keith clamped his lips together to hold in his cry of pain and tried to pull his hand away. Keith stopped, seeing no immediate fix to this, and held up his free hand in the universal "stop" motion. "What the he-" Keith clamped his hand over Lance's mouth. Lance paused, panic clear in his eyes. Keith gave him a mild look and pointed to where Allura was negotiating with the King and Queen.

"Don't interrupt them." Keith mouthed. He turned to ask the princess of Tsuru what she had done, and to undo it now, but she had vanished. He clenched and unclenched his free hand in frustration. Great. Just great. Not only was Lance stuck to him, they didn't have a way to get him unstuck.

Pidge noticed their wild motion and looked at them over her shoulder. Keith watched her eyes double in size in shock before a mischievous smile split her face. She wiggled her eyebrows at them, and they quickly gave her panicked looks, shaking their heads and tugging on their arms. She seemed to realize they weren't holding hands willingly and stared in confusion. She nudged Hunk with her elbow and jerked her thumb over her shoulder at them. They quickly shook their heads and tugged on their hands again, seeing Hunk's haughty reaction to the scene.

Hunk and Pidge exchanged glances and seemed to have a silent conversation. Eventually, they got the same answer they'd told themselves: wait. Keith refrained from groaning. Of course, he'd get stuck to his crush. Nobody else had to suffer like this. Not only did Lance not like him back, he hated him, and now they were stuck together. This was not helping his heart.

It took another twenty minutes for the treaty to be signed, and finally, finally the royals, Allura, and Shiro turned around to the mild panic behind them.

"Wha-"

"Can somebody please help us?" Keith cut Shiro off.

"Lance? Keith? Why are you two-"

"The princess! It's- she just- she came over and I thought she wanted to play and now Keith and I are stuck together and please help!" Lance burst, tugging on their joined hands.

"Oh- oh dear." The queen gasped. "I think I know what's happening here…" She exchanged a look with the King, who perked up and stiffened.

"Ooh, that little rascal!" He exclaimed. "ELEANOR!" He boomed, his voice ringing down the halls of the castle. A faint giggling tinkled through the air like bells, impossible to locate. The King sighed heavily. "Dear, if you would explain…?" He requested before whisking away down the halls in search of the princess.

The Queen shook her head, her long black hair moving like a sheet with the motion. "Oh, paladins, our most sincere apologies. Our daughter Eleanor has been practicing her magic and must have put a spell on you two. I do believe that it is the Bond of Silence she's used. Very rare, and I have no idea where she would have learned it!"

Shiro stepped forward a bit. "Your majesty, with all due respect: just what does this spell do?" He eyed their hands warily.

"Oh, yes I was just getting to that." The Queen continued. "The Bond Of Silence takes advantage of bonds that are already there between two individuals, simply ones that are unseen and unspoken. The spell uses these bonds to determine what kind of relationship those affected with have with each other. Sometimes that means enemies, sometimes friends, and sometimes something much more than friends. It appears that you two will be stuck together for as long as it takes for you to find out what you are to each other."

The room was silent.

"Unfortunately, there's no way to reverse the spell once it is complete. I do truly and deeply apologize on behalf of my daughter." The Queen continued with a soft voice.

Keith's head was swimming. What you mean to each other. There was no way in hell he was going to survive this. He was going to die.

"So they're stuck together like that?" Pidge piped up, pointing at their hands.

"Oh! Oh heavens no, but it's not much better. You see, you two must be near each other, touching most of the time, or you will experience great pain. It will grow with time, the more you are away from each other. Honestly, you should be able to let go of one another within the next couple of vargas."

Keith's heart was pounding. Just how long would it take for them to determine what they meant to each other? Keith already knew what he meant to Lance! He was a nuisance, an enemy, a rival! Someone Lance hated!

"What if we already know what we mean to each other?" Keith's voice was strained.

The Queen startled. "My dear boy, if you already knew what you meant to one another, you would not act in the way you do. And you would not be stuck together." She gave a pointed look at the way they had moved away from each other, their hands hanging in the air between them.

"May I suggest that you and your team stay here for the night, just to make sure that the spell goes over smoothly in its beginning stages? It was performed by an amateur, and I'd feel terrible if we were to send you on your way and you have complications." The Queen offered.

Allura took a moment to consider. "Well, I believe it would make the, ah, transition easier. We've got one night to spare in our schedule… Shiro?" She looked to him for a second opinion.

Shiro nodded. "That's probably the best plan."

Keith remained silent, but he could feel the annoyance radiating from Lance.

They were led to their rooms that they'd be staying in for the night. Keith and Lance stared at their separate doors. "Um, do you want to put your stuff away first?" Keith offered.

Lance looked at him with an unreadable expression. "Sure, thanks."

Keith was tugged into the room. Honestly, the only things they had brought were a spare change of clothes and some pajamas. Only Lance had brought a couple of face creams and skin care products that he dumped in the bathroom.

In Keith's room, he set his small stack of clothes to the side of his bed and then they were led out to the grand hall for dinner. The King and Queen were there, but the princess was not.

"We're very very sorry that this happened." The King apologized. "We hope that we can at least somehow appease the mess our daughter has made."

Shiro shook his head. "It's no big problem, really. Those two were going to need a "get-along" shirt some time or another."

Lance squawked indignantly and Keith pouted while everyone else snickered. About halfway through dinner, Keith's hand un-cramped from Lance's and they dropped their death grips on each other, cradling their hands to their chests. It was a relief to not have to be stuck like that, but Keith did like holding Lance's hand. It was comforting. Now Lance was back to glaring at him, rubbing his now-freed hand like Keith had somehow hurt it.

"Ah, you see? The spell is working just fine. No complications." The King chuckled, but he had a nervous tinge to his voice. "Maybe you'll get along a bit better after this mess anyway, eh?"

Keith frowned deeply at that. Lance managed an awkward diplomatic smile. The others laughed and they finished dinner without issue. The rest of the team paid their respects to the Queen and King and went to their respective quarters for the night.

Early next morning, before the light of dawn, Keith woke to a deep unsettlement in his chest. It felt hollow and pin-prickly.

He forced himself out of the warmth of his bed, feeling like a bowling ball was rolling around in his ribcage. He decided to walk to the kitchen quarters, hoping that a glass of water would help the subtle burning.

As he stepped out of his room, one hand rubbing his chest, over his heart, he collided bodily with something.

Blinking in astonishment, he realized he'd run smack dab into Lance, who had been walking past his room. Keith stumbled back. "Woah, uh sorry." He cringed.

Keith knew he was the last person Lance wanted to see. The blue paladin looked at Keith with a bit of fear, but for what, Keith didn't know. "You ok?" He asked quietly.

Lance shook himself and nodded. "Uh, Yeah. You just startled me is all."

Keith nodded and awkwardly tried to get past Lance.

"Hey wait, where are you going?" Lance followed him. Keith glanced over at him.

"I was going to get a glass of water. If you want to come you can." He shrugged one shoulder, mostly making the offer to be polite because why would Lance want to spend extra time with Keith after today?

But, Lance followed him there without another word, which was rare for them. Their friendship was tedious at times, and both of them needed to work out their issues, but even just Lance's presence was comforting in the dark halls of the big castle.

Keith grabbed two glasses and handed one to Lance, pouring them both some water. "So what do you think this spell thing means?" Lance asked, staring down at the water in his glass.

Keith sighed and shrugged a bit. "I think it means that we're not really in a good place of communication." He took a sip of water, but it didn't help the burn in his chest. "That there's things we don't know about each other."

"Huh." Lance muttered. "That's… huh." Keith rolled his eyes and hid a smile behind his glass.

"Well, what's your favorite color?" Lance asked. Keith startled enough to almost choke on his drink. He looked at Lance in confusion, but the other boy just raised his eyebrows. "You said we don't know each other well. And you're right. So what's your favorite color?" He swept a hand out in question to show Keith he had the spotlight.

Keith shook his head. "That's not what I-"

"What's. Your favorite. Colorrr?" Lance cut him off with a sing-songy voice.

Keith shook his head and laughed a bit. "It's blue." He said, eyes darting to meet Lance's, knowing that the blue of his eyes were his favorite color. But Lance didn't know that. "What's yours?"

Lance paused. Their eyes locked and something in the atmosphere of the night sizzled. "It was blue. It used to be. But now I'm thinking I like violet." He looked away, breaking the spell between them, took a small sip from his glass. He perked up. "Ooh! Idea! Ok, we're gonna play 20 questions on the walk back to our rooms, ok?" Lance offered with a smile.

Keith hesitated. What kinds of questions would he be getting himself roped into? But then he saw Lance's hopeful face and knew he needed to take this chance if his relationship with Lance was going to improve. He nodded slowly. "Ok."

Lance beamed. "Aw yeah ok I'm going first-"

Maybe it was the fact that it was around 4 a.m. Maybe it was how cute Lance looked in the low light of the castle. Maybe it was that constant presence of need, clawing its way up Keith's throat, forcing him to open up to this one person, allow himself to trust this one so that he could have a chance at keeping Lance in his life. So in the early grey of dawn light, Keith found out Lance's favorite movies, childhood memories, other interesting things that had made Lance who he was. And Keith opened up a bit to Lance, telling him all the answers to the same questions and then some. They took the long way back to their rooms.

They giggled their way down the hall and bumped shoulders teasingly outside their bedroom doors. And for the first time in- maybe forever- Keith felt like he had a true friend. They shared small smiles and slipped silently into their respective rooms to catch up on whatever sleep they could before the sun rose. Keith fell asleep again with his chest feeling lighter than it had in ages.

The next morning though, Lance seems to have forgotten about their bonding, and was back to giving Keith the stink eye. Keith didn't know what to think of that, but the heaviness in his chest was back.

The walk back through the kingdom was a nightmare.

All around, dragon citizens pointed their clawed fingers at Keith and Lance, the tips of their horns turning pink with a blush. Keith didn't understand. Did they know?

"Shiro can we please hurry?" He urged, his voice set on edge.

His brother turned to him over his shoulder. "It's ok, Keith. Maybe Coran will be able to help you guys sort this whole thing out. In the meantime let's all just try to stay calm."

"They won't stop whispering!" Keith hissed quietly. It was true; all of the citizens they'd passed had quickly lowered their voices to murmur about Keith and Lance.

The weird feeling in his chest had shifted to an ache, and he rubbed his hand across the spot to ease it away. He dropped his hand, accidentally touching Lance's on the downswing.

They quickly hopped away from each other, clutching their respective hands to their chests and glaring at the other. Well, Lance glared. Keith looked at him warily, knowing it wasn't Lance's fault. The pain had dulled in his chest when they'd touched, but Keith just blamed that on his mind turning to putty from any physical contact with Lance.

Keith moved up to walk with Shiro and Lance moved back to walk with Pidge and Hunk. As they approached the castle, Keith felt his chest burn. It was getting worse, much faster. He rubbed his hand over the spot, his breathing becoming wheezy. What was going on? This had never happened before.

He recalled the Queens words: this must be the physical separation pain she told them about. Keith spared a glance over his shoulder and found Lance's face contorted in pain. Seeing him in pain only made the elephant sitting on his heart weigh more. It seemed the elephant had a flamethrower, because his lungs simmered and seared with each wheezy intake of air. Keith gathered up his pride and set it to the side. He didn't want Lance to be in pain because of him. Because of his pride. He dropped back a bit and held his hand out to Lance.

Lance stared at it, looked at Keith warily. But when he saw that Keith really was just trying to help, he silently slipped his hand into Keith's. The elephant disappeared, the flames in his chest doused, and the pain on Lance's face disappeared. Lance gave a small nod, a smile lifting the corners of his lips. Keith returned it.

The rest of the team ignored them, not noticing the interaction or already knowing about the situation, not giving them any more grief.

They arrived at the shuttle to the castle in silence, holding hands.

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**I'm so excited, let's see if I have enough self-control to keep a consistent update pattern for this! I already have the work completely done, It's just a matter of keeping myself from posting it all at once lol. Follow and review! I love you all!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yeeeee chapter 2! I edited this to the best of my abilities right now, let me know if you guys have any burning questions, all comments help me to beef up the story before new chapters go up, just so I can make the story's plotline as clear as possible! You're all so loved, follows and comments mean a lot 3 (Ps. Check out mimi_l_imim on instagram for my art ;) ) Also on AO3**

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"Ah, well, I've dealt with this before, actually!" Coran twisted his mustache. They'd called him to the medbay when they returned the next morning and asked about the spell.

"You have?" Allura stepped forward. "When?"

Coran turned to her. "With your own parents, princess. That's how they knew they loved each other! They couldn't avoid each other, and thus, couldn't avoid their feelings!" He explained.

Keith felt his belly knot. This was going to end badly.

Allura looked pale at the mention of her deceased parents. "And there's no fix?" Shiro stepped up, setting a comforting hand on Allura's shoulder.

Coran shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The only thing we can do is wait." He gave Keith and Lance a sad, sidelong look.

"Oh… well, thanks anyway Coran." Shiro nodded at him.

It had only been an hour since they'd left planet Tsuru's surface. An hour of holding hands with Lance.

Which, under different circumstances, would have been great. A dream come true, really. But in this scenario, Lance still hated him. Lance still wanted to get away from him. Lance didn't want to hold his hand. The thought almost made Keith drop Lance's hand. But he didn't want Lance to be in pain.

They left Coran in the medical station and Shiro gave them a meaningful look that said: talk, before walking away.

And then they were alone.

Keith felt his skin crawl with the silence. "So uh-" he stopped, because Lance had said the same thing at the same time. They blinked at each other for a second.

Keith coughed. "You go first." He mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

"Um I was just going to ask how- this" he gestured between them. "-is gonna work?"

Keith let out a controlled breath. "I have no idea. I guess we could try seeing how long we can stay away from each other for now?" He offered.

Lance nodded and silently dropped his hand. Keith felt his heart fall into his stomach.

"I'll see you at dinner?" Keith offered. It was two hours to dinner time. It was a test to see if they could make it.

Lance nodded. "Game on." He grinned, deciding to take it as a challenge.

"Sure." Keith threw him a smirk and nodded before heading down the hall away from him.

Thirty dobashes later, Keith was miserable. His chest elephant was back, crushing his ribs and lungs, dancing on his stomach. The flamethrower had returned too. He wasn't dying, but it was no walk in the park. He controlled his breathing and tried to go back to training with the gladiator.

The bot reappeared, bearing down on Keith, who yelled at the pain in his chest and crumpled to the side. The only thing saving him from being sliced like deli meat was his sword, which seemed to weigh 1000 pounds, held above him.

"End- end training sequence!" He gasped, voice hoarse. The bot disappeared and Keith fell to the floor, panting and wheezing. He held his chest and rolled onto his side, trying to breathe.

This was going to be harder than he thought.

He forced himself up and let his bayard disappear. Holding his side, Keith stumbled down the hall and to the showers. He let the cold water pound against his chest, like it would be able to extinguish the burning there. Just another couple dobashes. Not that bad.

Somehow, Keith found himself in clean clothes and showered, sitting at the dinner table. He had been staring off into space for who-knows-how-long before the door slid open. Keith's head snapped to attention at the sound. Shiro walked in with Allura and Pidge. Hunk entered the room from the kitchen, carrying a large platter that most likely held something delicious for their dinner. Keith started to stand up, but his legs were burning, his arms were burning, he felt like he was on fire. He collapsed to the floor.

Those in the room gasped and rushed over. He panted against the cold floor, too weak to lift himself up. Every one was berating him with questions he couldn't answer, couldn't even focus on.

Instead of answering he ground out: "Lance- where's Lance?" He writhed on the floor, worried that if he was like this then Lance could be in serious trouble. Hunk and Pidge vanished to go find him. It felt like hours that Keith lay on the floor, grinding his teeth and trying to suppress his groans of pain. Finally the door flew open and Hunk rushed in. Lance was draped over his shoulder, feet barely helping him move, like they couldn't support him for a second. Hunk set him to the ground softly and Keith used what strength he had to lift his arm and grab Lance's hand once he was close enough.

The effect was immediate. They both relaxed, their pain ebbing away. It took several minutes for them to feel well enough to sit up.

The team helped them to their unsteady feet, sitting them in their respective seats next to each other at the table, their hands held between them. Shiro and Allura gave them worried looks even as they told them how foolish it had been for them to try to stay away that long when this was so unfamiliar. Pidge and Hunk quelled their frantic Princess and leader. "They're fine now, so we should all just try to eat." Pidge said.

The princess and Shiro nodded, but still looked uncertainly at Keith and Lance, eyes darting to their intertwined hands warily.

Keith slipped a small apology to Lance as everyone cleared away from them. "Sorry, Lance. I thought it wouldn't be that bad." He cringed.

Lance shook his head. "I made it a challenge. We can't really control this, and we don't really know much about it. It's nobody's fault. Let's just eat dinner and see where this goes."

Keith nodded. It was kind of weird holding hands with Lance while they ate dinner, but nobody said anything of the topic. Lance instead steered the conversation towards favorite childhood games. After that it was easy to forget the awkward tension in the room, as they all laughed and ate the weirdly delicious roast Hunk had prepared.

"Sardines!" Pidge exclaimed. "Like hide and go seek, but one person hides, and everyone else is it, and once someone finds the person hiding, they hide with them. The last person to find everyone hiding is the loser. The first person to find the person hiding is the one that hides the next round." She explained. Keith didn't completely understand without playing the game, but it sounded fun.

"Hide and go seek tag." Lance said. "It's so much fun, especially growing up, because all of my siblings and I all had friends that lived nearby. Our neighbors would come out and we'd all have one huge game. It's pretty much hide and seek, but you play outside, and the person that's it counts at the base. If someone makes it to the base before they're tagged, then they're safe! But you can't go off the base, not unless you say Olly Olly Oxen Free, then you'll be safe from being tagged. If nobody is tagged you play bubblegum or something to see who's it next. It's the best at night, after dark, because you can sneak past whoever's it easier." Lance grinned to himself at some memory of the game. "That's how I got this scar-" he pointed at a small white scar on his bottom lip. Keith found himself staring at those lips for the rest of the story. "I was eight, and I ran straight smack into my neighbor while playing the game in the dark. I cried for a while because it gave me a fat, split lip and I thought I looked ugly." He chuckled.

The table laughed at the story. "I liked Mr. Lightman." Keith said. Shiro groaned loudly from his spot at the table.

"I was hoping you'd forgotten about that!" Shiro groaned and Keith laughed.

"Never forget Mr. Lightman!" He pointed a finger at Shiro. "So, at this point I was living with Shiro and his parents, and his dad had this game. Sometimes he'd suddenly shut off the lights in the house and grab a flashlight. That's how we knew we had to hide." Keith grinned. "He'd sneak around the house in the dark, saying things to try to make us laugh and give our hiding spots away. When he found you he'd tickle you half to death. Shiro peed his pants laughing once."

Shiro squawked indignantly. "Rude! Don't tell them that!" Keith laughed loudly at that. Everyone else joined in, laughing at the idea of their team leader peeing his pants.

Once the laughter died down, Allura spoke up. "There was a game I'd play with my nanny growing up. Though nobody knew. My mother passed away while I was young, and Coran stepped up to my Father's side for support in that time. Years later, Coran was still there, still at my father's side, and I knew I wanted to give them both a push. My nanny saw what I saw between them and we came up with a game. I'd send her off to find my father to tell him I needed him and I'd send for Coran, telling him my father needed him. They'd meet up, looking for me and my nanny, but we'd disappear, forcing them to stay together. I felt like a sneaky knight of love." She giggled.

"That was you?" Coran gasped from where he'd poked his head in the doorway. Allura shrieked and stumbled out of her chair, giggling like crazy as Coran stormed towards her. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused you little fiend!" He cackled after her.

"But it worked didn't it?" She yelled over her shoulder as they circled the table.

"I nearly lost my mind!" Coran stopped at one end of the table. They circled like lions, the rest of the team wheezing in their seats at the whole thing.

"Coran, my dear, nearly lost it?" She paused at her end of the table.

"Why you- rah!" Coran lunged and took Allura down, nearly taking Pidge's dinner plate with them. They laughed on the floor like they had completely lost their minds. The rest of the team slowly made their way over, hunched over with laughter. They'd never seen either of the Alteans behave so childishly and honestly? It was a nice change.

Hunk helped Coran to his feet while Shiro helped Allura up. "Oh my goodness." Allura managed, wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of her eye. "I haven't laughed that hard in more than 10,000 years!"

Coran took her hand and patted it lovingly. "Well, I'm glad you decided to be a sneaky knight of love."

Allura smiled and turned to the others. "My father ended up courting Coran. They didn't have the chance to marry. But they loved each other." She gave him a sad smile.

"Aye, we did." He smiled back.

"I just got emotional whiplash." Hunk wiped a tear from his eye.

The team chuckled and everyone returned to their seats, and Coran took a plate of food for himself.

"So we ended with Allura's game. Hunk? What was a childhood game you liked?"

Hunk hmmed and hawed in thought. "Ahh that's gotta beeeee… Pubbs. The game Pubbs. Whenever my family and I would go to the beach, my dad would be able to hold his breath for crazy long under the water. He would disappear under the water for so long that we forgot that he was in with us, and would sneak attack us from below. He'd surge up and throw us out of the water and a couple feet into the air. We'd yell all scared and come crashing back down into the water. It was so much fun, like a surprise catapult ride." Hunk laughed. "Once, I thought my dad was below me playing Pubbs because I felt something bump my foot. I thought I'd catch him before he could throw me, so I stuck my head under water to look for him. Instead of my dad, it was a dolphin coming to play! It let me do that thing where you hold onto their fin and they pull you around! It was the best moment of my young life…" He trailed off, lost in the spectacular memory.

Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise. That was pretty cool. He'd never even been in the ocean.

"What about you, Shiro? What games did you play as a kid?" Lance asked.

Shiro seemed to think for a moment, but his eyes flashed over to Keith's, a dreaded promise held there.

"No." Keith deadpanned. "No."

"At one point Keith was super into cryptids and stuff." Shiro launched into his story.

"Shiro, I'll kill you!" Keith's voice was low with deadly promise.

"He especially liked mothman. Like, a lot."

Keith resigned to his fate.

Shiro grinned his victory. "We used to get flashlights and go search the forest for cryptids, and whoever got more "realistic evidence" would win. We had to stop when Keith got mauled by a bear." Shiro frowned.

"That was fun." Keith grinned.

The team looked at him all crazy.

He quickly realized why. "The game, not the bear!" He cried. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and chuckled.

"For a second I thought you were completely nuts." Lance's eyes were wide, free hand pressed over his heart. "Like hanging out with a sociopath." Lance grinned.

Keith felt heat fill his cheeks. "No, but the bear was cute."

"He wanted to keep it as a pet!" Shiro cried, draping an exasperated arm over his eyes.

Keith chuckled. "A big fluffy doggie."

Shiro's intense eyes met his. "Keith, no!"

"Keith, yes!" He retorted.

They all cracked up.

It was a while before everyone started cleaning up after dinner and separating for bed.

It wasn't until then that Keith realized the issue. Keith and Lance's rooms were next door to each other. They stood in the hall, hands clasped together, staring at their respective rooms.

Lance glanced over at Keith. "Think it'll be fine, right?" He said nonchalantly. "Just one night. A couple hours."

Keith took that at a sign to say yes and get off of Lance, so he nodded and dropped his hand.

"Well, goodnight." Lance said, leaving in a hurry.

"Goodnight…" Keith said after him, watching him disappear into his room before moving to his own. He laid down and tried to ignore how his chest already felt heavy.

He drifted off fairly quickly despite the pain singing through his chest. It would be fine.

… it was not fine!

Keith woke up to pain, pain, pain, screaming through his body. It scorched through his veins, weighed on him enough to feel like every bone in his body was being crushed to powder. He wheezed, hyperventilating, and rolled out of bed. He landed with a thump to the floor, only worsening the blinding pain. He somehow, somehow managed to force himself up. His shirt was drenched with sweat, and it stuck to him, shivers wracking his body despite how Keith felt like his skin was melting off. Each step was agony. The door to his room flew open in front of him and he stumbled out into the dim hall, turning towards Lance's room.

His vision swam and swirled, head tilting precariously like he had a bowling ball full of water on his neck instead of his head. He guessed he was halfway to Lance's room when he slammed into something and fell bodily to the floor in a heap.

He thought he was just going to die on the floor right there. But then his pain was subsiding.

Keith lay on the floor, gasping for breath, limbs like jelly… but it was becoming bearable. He forced his eyes open to see that it was Lance he'd accidentally tackled. He blinked slowly, then again in shock.

"Lance?" He panted out, tongue thick and sticky in his mouth, like his head had been stuffed full of cotton.

"K-Keith…" Lance managed. He was breathing raggedly and shivering, but a hand had grasped Keith's shirt in a death grip.

They lay there for a long time, limbs a tangled mess, bodies pressed together on the cold, hard floor of the castle. But it was the most comfortable either had been in a long time. Their pain subsided, a ghostly peace washing over them.

"We- we gotta do something about this…" Lance murmured.

Keith felt himself nod, even though everything in him was screaming no.

"Do you just want to stay in my room tonight? We're not going to be much use to the team all exhausted and in pain, so we should try to get some sleep. We can talk about the spell tomorrow, okay?" Lance offered.

Keith had to take a second because- Lance? Lance McClain wanted Keith- Keith to stay in his room? Keith shook himself. This was to keep them both from dying, nothing else. Keith sighed and nodded.

Lance helped him up from the ground and they pressed into each other as they made their way to Lance's door. Keith's head was swimming, but this time it was with nerves. He was going to spend the night in his crush's room. They walked in and Lance just plopped down onto the bed.

"Uh, Lance?" Keith asked.

"Just lay down, Mullet." Lance's voice was muffled by his pillow. Keith let himself process this before he just sighed and laid down next to Lance. What was he going to do? Argue? Heat sang in the little space between their bodies. Keith got comfortable, his shoulder pressed against Lance's, and tried to ignore how close Lance was. It was just for the night. Lance still didn't like Keith. But, that didn't mean Keith couldn't enjoy just this one moment of peace with Lance. Just because Lance didn't like-like Keith didn't mean there was no hope for their odd sort of friendship to grow into something real. Honestly, as long as Lance was happy, Keith probably would be, too. So, Keith let himself indulge in the moment and drift off to the sound of Lance's soft breathing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Let me know any questions that are unanswered as of this chapter, it helps me improve the overall story! Favorite, Follow, and Comment for more cute klance idiots lol 3**

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The next morning, Keith woke to the smell of Lance. He'd somehow shifted in the night, one arm draped over the other's chest while his nose had tucked into Lance's neck, whose arms had wound around his waist. It was… nice. Really nice.

Was Lance going to freak? Probably. Was Keith going to make that moment come sooner by waking him up? No.

Keith let himself drift in and out of sleep, the most he'd slept since… well, maybe ever. He'd never shared a bed with anyone else, and the space between Keith and his crush was so, so little. It was like tempting a dying man in a desert with a water bottle.

Was this taking advantage of a situation? Yes.

Was this taking advantage of Lance? ...No comment.

Keith sighed. There wasn't much he could do to fix the situation, so why not let them both catch a couple extra bits of shuteye in their crazy, hectic lives as paladins.

He found himself hoping that he could wake up this way every morning.

But he knew that was just wishful thinking. Lance wouldn't like him back. He would never like him back. It would be better for all of them to just let go. But it wasn't that easy. Keith wasn't the type to fall for anyone- in fact, he hadn't _ever_ fallen for anyone. Until now. Lance was… well, _Lance_. He got under Keith's skin, broke through his barriers. Made him a better person. Made him want to be better.

But better wouldn't be good enough for Lance. Lance deserved _perfection_, something Keith wasn't.

A hand came up to lightly smack Keith's shoulder.

"Hmm _stoppit_." Came Lance's sleepy command.

Keith froze. "Stop what?" He asked nervously. Lance shifted to hold him tighter.

"You're doing that _thing_ again."

"_Thing_?" Keith furrowed his brows. Maybe Lance really was a snuggler and didn't know who he was talking to. That seemed like a reasonable explanation for the current paladin-cuddle-fest.

Lance sighed, his warm breath tickling Keith's skin. He made a conscious effort to remain calm and not tense up at the feeling. "That thing where you go down your rabbit hole of bad thoughts. You always start tapping your finger" Lance reached over to demonstrate on Keith's upper arm, "right here. So stoppit."

Keith was incredulous. How had Lance even _known_ that? Lance _hated_ Keith!

The silence between them was thick, like glass.

Maybe… maybe they could be friends. Maybe this was Lance's way of finally making an effort with Keith, and this was Lance showing Keith that he cared and paid attention to him. "...Okay…" Keith murmured, bringing his arms around Lance to hold him back. Keith let himself relax into the hold more, and the glass shattered, leaving comfortable quiet. "...okay…"

So… apparently Lance was more observant than he seemed.

Correction- Keith _knew_ Lance was observant. That's how he quickly picked up on social queues and directed diplomatic conversations to safe territory like a traffic cop in Rome.

Apparently Lance was more observant of _Keith_ than he showed.

And… Lance hadn't freaked out like Keith thought he would. Maybe he was just a snuggler and knew it. Yeah. And Keith and Lance were becoming better friends. That was it.

...But still, being a snuggler doesn't mean he would snuggle with just _anyone_, right? If Lance _really_ didn't see Keith as a friend, he would have pushed him off the bed when he woke up. Hell he wouldn't have even let Keith sleep in his bed- would have made him sleep on the floor, holding his hand above him on the bed so that his arm went numb in the night.

Lance sighed, his breath rustling Keith's hair softly. No, maybe Lance didn't hate him. Keith allowed himself to relax in Lance's hold, allowed his nose to remain buried in the crook of Lance's neck so he could smell the soap and ocean that was always there. Call it self-indulgence.

Keith drifted between sleep for a long time after that.

•••

The next morning lacked any of the awkwardness that Keith had expected. He'd woken before Lance, managed to disentangle their limbs without waking the other, and slipped off to the restroom before his bladder exploded. When he returned, Lance was sitting up in bed, rubbing his hand over his chest with a look of discomfort on his face.

"Hey," Keith greeted, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, placing his hand on Lance's knee with only a little hesitation. He immediately felt the spikes in his chest disappear, and Lance gained some more color in his face.

"Hey…" Lance sighed, looking relieved.

"Sorry, I had to pee." Keith apologized.

"No biggie." Lance waved a hand in the air. "As long as you washed your hands…" His blue eyes drifted down to eye Keith's hand suspiciously.

Keith snorted. "Of course I did." He gave Lance a fake glower, who just rolled his eyes in return.

"You never know…" He shrugged.

Keith poked Lance's knee. "I wash my hands. I'm not quite the desert heathen you make me out to be." He teased.

Lance crossed his arms. "I don't seem to recall ever accusing you of such." He stuck his nose up.

"You literally just did!" Keith squawked indignantly. "Two seconds ago!" He poked Lance harder.

"Ey, watch it, don't damage our most valuable paladin!" Lance swatted at his hand.

"Har, har." Keith sniffed, but it was all in good fun. "At least we can rely on you for most things."

"Exactly!" Lance nodded, but Keith could see he was trying to suppress his true smile of pride.

"And I'll always be there to get your lion back when you lose it." Keith added with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah totally! Wait- hey!" Lance moved to smack at Keith's shoulder, who ducked out of the way laughingly. "Rude." He sniffed, but soon joined Keith in his chuckles.

And then, for the next several nights, Keith didn't even bother trying to sleep in his own bed. The two fell into the routine of Lance plopping down on his bed after a long day and simply opening up his arms to Keith.

During the days, if they weren't holding hands during team exercises and drills, they were eating together, lounging together, or even sparring together. Sparring proved difficult at first, as they were practicing with bo-staffs and weren't touching for too long. But, Lance found that hand-to hand combat and wrestling techniques like jiu-jitsu gave them the doses of touch that they needed to keep the pain at bay.

It felt so nice and natural, and Keith admitted to putting off their _talk _because he wanted this to last longer. But Lance never brought it up, either, and this new thing between them didn't affect the team dynamic at all. In fact, they seemed more in tune than ever, even though they hadn't put it to the real test in battle. Keith assumed that they'd be better, faster, stronger and more efficient if and when they had to go back out into the field.

But in the meantime he enjoyed Lance's presence. They were sitting close enough on the couch during team movie night that they fell asleep snuggled together. Once the film ended, they'd been roused by Pidge and had moved back to Lance's bed. There, they stayed up to swap stories and secrets. Keith didn't know what had possessed him to put this much trust in Lance, but he opened up about his dad, Shiro, his mom, and his struggles through the Garrison and out in the desert. Lance listened, offered support and it felt… _good_ to let it all out. And in return, Lance told him about his homesickness, how he sometimes felt like he was lacking. Keith didn't know what to say, so instead he held him and asked him to tell him about the ocean, since he'd never been.

Neither knew when, but they became the dynamic duo they always had the potential of becoming.

In training, they took out the gladiator bots in record time, working together as an unstoppable force.

And in the mornings like this one, they simply lay and enjoyed the others presence, leeching warmth from each other.

It wasn't until Keith felt Lance shift and _kiss the top of his head_ that he considered getting up.

_WhatthehellwasthatLance?!_ Keith made sure his body didn't tense up to give himself away, faked a yawn a second later like he was just waking up. The inside of his mind was screaming, on fire, a klaxon alarm blaring.

Lance acted like nothing was wrong. "Morning Mullet." Bright blue eyes shone down on him. "Sleep well?"

Keith let the corners of his lips lift in a smile to hide his panic. "Yeah, great, actually." Was he blushing? He felt like he was blushing.

Was… was _Lance _blushing? No, impossible. "Me too. You're like a furnace. Kept me warm all night." Lance mumbled, letting his eyes slip closed drowsily.

Was that a compliment? What did that even mean? What did he _say_ to that?!

"You're… welcome…?" Keith mumbled back, hiding his embarrassment in Lance's shoulder.

Lance just puffed out a laugh. He mumbled something incoherent and stretched. Keith took advantage of Lance's closed eyes and watched the way his muscles coiled and released.

Keith had kept a tight lid on his feelings for a long time now, and that lid was being cracked open.

Now, all Keith wanted to do was tackle Lance and kiss him senseless. Feel those corded muscles under his fingertips…

This was not what he should be thinking while in bed with Lance. Well, if 'in bed with Lance' meant what Keith _wanted_ it to mean, then it would have been fine. But not now.

Keith sighed and sat up. "So do you want to eat breakfast before we shower? Or just do it right now or-"

Lance's stomach growled loudly. He blushed and chuckled a little. "I guess that answers that…" he averted his eyes. Keith nodded and quickly slipped out of the bed, having to disentangle his legs from Lance's. It was one of the most tempting things he'd ever been faced with. Those long, smooth legs. "Here, wait…" Keith turned to see Lance reaching up towards his head. He let Lance move his hand up to fix Keith's bedhead, closing his eyes at the feeling of those slender fingers against his scalp. He opened his eyes and met Lance's deep ocean blues and felt heat creep up his neck. "There…" Lance murmured, eyes flirting around Keith's face instead of his hair.

"Thanks." Keith managed to choke out around his heart, which had jumped up into his throat. He inhaled sharply and Lance pulled his hand away. "I'm gonna go get changed." Keith said quickly as he made his way to the door, turning to throw a smile over his shoulder. "I'll meet you outside in five?"

Lance smiled at that. "See you then."

The elephants started thumping on his heart about three minutes later. The Queen had been right- they had less and less time in between touching-the pain was getting worse, faster. Keith changed quickly and brushed his teeth before striding with purpose outside.

And nearly ran into Lance. Again. "Woah! Careful there, Mullet." Lance held his biceps to steady him. The elephants were gone.

"S-sorry it just-" he rubbed a hand over his chest, avoiding Lance's eyes.

Lance frowned. "I know…" he rubbed his hands up and down Keith's arms, making Keith shiver.

Keith cleared his throat a bit and held up his hand. Lance gave him a goofy grin.

"Oh my dear gentleman, how chivalrous of you!" Lance pulled his hands up to cover his heart like some old-timey English maiden. "I swoon!" He leaned backward dramatically, pressed the back of one back to his forehead, fingers fanned out like peacock feathers.

Keith couldn't hold back his laugh. "Ok weirdo, I thought you were _hungry_?"

Lance met his eyes and winked cheesily. "Oh I'm _starving_ babe!" He said in a high pitched Marylin-Monroe-esque voice. Keith choked out another laugh and tried to fight his blush away. That was stupid. It shouldn't have been cute.

But Lance seemed happy to have gotten Keith to laugh. Lance took his hand and marched them down the hall towards the kitchen. Keith let himself be dragged along, glad that, even with the sour circumstances, he had a true friendship with Lance.

And, as he looked down at their clasped hands in front of him… maybe it could learn to be something more than a friendship.


	4. Chapter 4

**New chapterrrrrr! (WARNING! slight injury, mentioned blood etc. I really am not into gore at all so it's rly rly light mention, I just know it can be triggering for people so be careful beautiful readers, i don't wanna hurt u guys by not saying anything really was so fun to write, it's like therapy for me, being able to heal over Voltron's bullshit by letting these two be happy together as dumb teenagers out in space. Nuff bout that tho, enjoy the angst muahahaha!**

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"Food goo…" Lance frowned into the bowl of green gunk. "What I wouldn't give for a bowl of cereal, or pancakes, or something solid." But he'd gotten himself a bowl nonetheless.

Keith considered his words for a moment. "Hold up." He checked the limited supply of miscellaneous food ingredients, seeing what he could find. He pulled out what seemed like the right ingredients, especially since Hunk had taken the liberty of labeling everything with what earth foods they most closely resembled.

Keith dumped Lance's untouched bowl of goo back into the large container vat and got to work, mixing ingredients and cooking in a flurry of natural movements. Lance looked at him all startled the entire time.

It was only when Keith placed a big blue pancake before him that Lance managed to ask: "You can cook?!"

Keith shrugged. "I know how to cook basic foods. Shiro… Shiro does not." His face went flat and bitter. "He lit my cereal on fire the first week we lived together."

Lance burst out laughing at that. Keith thought about it and, yeah, it was pretty funny. "Stoic Team Leader Shiro can't cook for crap but is expected to save the galaxy? Right. Save your dinner first, old man." Keith snarked. Lance laughed harder and Keith joined in.

"H-how?" Lance wheezed. "Cereal!" He guffawed.

Keith laughed harder. "You should have seen his face! He tried to pick it up and put it in the sink and it just made everything worse." Keith shook his head. "We'd luckily only lost one curtain by the time I found the fire extinguisher."

Lance let his laughter die out slowly, little hiccups escaping him as he calmed. "God that's hilarious." He watched Lance's attention drift back down to his pancake. It was blue. And not because the ingredients made it blue- Keith had made it blue. He thought Lance might appreciate it. Keith leaned against the counter, crossing his arms nervously as Lance considered his food.

Lifting his fork, Lance took a bite.

His eyes went wide. He let out a moan. "Holy shit! Thisissogood!" Lance took another bite before finishing the first. "How do you even know how to make something this good? This is the best pancake I've ever had! Better than Hunks! Better than my Mama's!" Lance exclaimed around his bite.

Keith smiled. "Glad you like it." He secretly let out a breath of relief. He thought Lance was going to hate it. Apparently Lance didn't hate quite as many of the things Keith thought he did.

Keith got to work making the rest of the team pancakes, but he didn't bother coloring them. That had been for Lance.

Hunk and Pidge stumbled into the kitchen- it seemed that everyone had slept in this morning- with bleary eyes and wide yawns.

"Morning lovebirds." Even a sleepy Pidge is a snarky Pidge. Keith rolled his eyes and handed her a pancake. She looked at him in surprise, eyes wide beneath her large glasses. "Did- did you make this?" She asked, giving the plate a suspicious look.

"Yep! They're the best pancakes ever! Sorry Hunk, but these even beat my Mama's!" Lance said around a bite. Keith blushed.

Hunk gave him a wide-eyed look. "That's the highest praise possible!" He gasped excitedly. "Can I have one?" Keith laughed a bit.

"Yours is almost done." He pointed his spatula to the pan. He flipped it like an expert and it landed perfectly on the plate he'd set aside. He handed it to a startled Hunk, who took it silently and stared at it all the way to his stool at the counter. They didn't usually bother with the dining room table in the mornings because they all tended to eat at different times. This was rare.

Keith made two more pancakes for Shiro and Allura and then another blue one for Lance, who was begging for another. Keith sat down with a plate next to Lance and hooked his ankle around Lance's under the table. Lance paused his chewing in surprise for a moment, but went back to munching happily without a comment.

"Keith, I don't think I've had your cooking in a couple years." Shiro hummed. "I missed your pancakes. They're magical." He smiled while chewing, exposing his half-chewed food. Keith laughed.

"Shiro, gross." He felt like he was fourteen again, making breakfast for Shiro and Adam and joking around the breakfast table on earth. It was the first time Keith felt homesick for something.

"This really is delicious, Keith." Allura said earnestly.

Hunk nodded eagerly, his mouth full. "We have got to talk recipes!" He exclaimed.

Pidge sat back and rubbed her full stomach. "I want more, but if I have more I'll explode." They all laughed.

Lance caught Keith's eye and smiled with a subtle nod. Keith was doing really well with the team right now. This had been a good thing to do. Lance looked… proud of him. He smiled back.

"You're making these for me forever." Lance pointed his fork at him threateningly. Keith laughed and nodded. That didn't sound so bad. Spending mornings with Lance forever…

Suddenly the castle alarm blared to life.

"Noooo." Pidge whined. "I was so happyyyy."

Shiro shot her a sad look. Then he set his face with determination. "Okay, team. Welcome back to real life."

They hopped off their stools, and Lance immediately reached his hand out for Keith's. He smiled and took it, and he could've sworn that Lance blushed. He shook himself, berating his stupid heart for thundering in his chest. This was so they didn't freaking die and Keith couldn't stop his rampant hormones for five minutes. They followed the team as they headed to the holodeck to see what the threat was.

"We've got a Galra fleet inbound. They'll be on us any second! Paladins, get to your lions quickly." Allura commanded as she typed on the holo screen in front of her.

Lance and Keith exchanged worried glances.

"Princess, what about…" Lance asked, holding up his hand, which held Keith's.

Allura stared in shock. "Quiznack I'd forgotten about that." She breathed.

"Just get to your lions and do your best. Don't stay out there for too long. Don't hurt yourselves." She seemed unsure about what she was saying, but there was no other way.

Keith met Lance's eyes and gave him a reassuring look. They'd be okay.

They dropped hands and ran to their lions as quickly as possible. They shot out into space just as the particle barrier went up, the pain already setting deep into both of their chests. Keith hoped they'd be ok, but the only way to make it easier was to take out the fleet faster.

He immediately went into action, feeling the pain in his chest with every thrust and pull on his lion controls. It grew worse with the passing seconds, searing out from his chest in long tendrils of fiery pain. Hunk squealed as he cartwheeled past Keith before righting himself and shooting after the ship that had blasted Yellow. Shiro shouted an order at Pidge, who took out another dozen fighters with three shots. Keith blinked back tears of pain and took out a wave of fighters with one heat blast and a terrific roar. Lance swooped in with Blue and turned the next wave into popsicles.

Keith chuckled a bit at the sight and Lance glanced up at him on his small screen to the side. Lance shot him a smirk and moved even faster, practically tailing Red- not an easy feat, since Red was the fastest of the lions. Keith took that as a challenge and called his Jaw Blade up. While the others handled the ion cannon and smaller fighters, Lance and Keith circled the main Galra ship with their Jaw Blades, setting off huge explosions as they went.

The Galra ship was incapacitated within record time.

But Keith was seriously about to stop breathing.

He panted heavily as the rest of the team finished off the straggling fighter jets. "Lance…" He croaked, coughing into his hand. He was shocked to see a bright bloom of red there when he pulled his hand back away. Nobody seemed to notice.

"I know…" Lance's breathing sounded labored. Keith could see his eyelids drooping with exhaustion. "We gotta… let's get back…" he panted heavily.

"That's it guys! We did it. Everyone return to the castle." Shiro announced as he exploded the last ship. Keith didn't waste any time scooting over to Blue and matching Lance's pace on the way back to the castle.

He docked Red and stumbled out of his seat, every breath feeling like his lungs were full of jagged, broken glass. The shards grew larger with each breath as he made his way down the ramp, having to set a hand to the inside wall so he didn't fall over. He felt blinded by pain and barely registered Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk hurrying over to see what was wrong.

He coughed heavily out of nowhere, unable to bring his hand up to block the spurt of blood from his throat.

Pidge jumped back with a shriek at the sight. Hunk started yelling something Keith couldn't make out, Shiro started cursing and patting him down in search of a wound as he walked toward the Blue lion.

Shiro was asking where he got hit over and over, having to walk alongside Keith as he stumbled towards Lance, who was in no better shape. Hunk noticed Lance struggling and hurried over to help him.

When they were ten feet apart Keith's knees gave out. He crashed heavily to the floor, barely registering the pain. All he heard was white noise, all he saw was the blurry floor beneath him and he struggled to pull his body up. He forced himself to crawl to Lance, who was laying deathly still on the ground as Hunk and Pidge fretted over him.

"Lance," Keith ground out, his voice hoarse. He saw red dribble from his lips when he opened his mouth, but he couldn't taste the coppery sin on the back of his tongue. It was like the world had turned flavorless, black and white, and painful without Lance.

The others seemed to finally understand what was going on and helped Keith get closer to Lance. Shiro hauled him up to his useless legs and they stumbled the final few feet to Lance.

Keith collapsed next to him and used the last of his strength to wrap Lance up in his arms, letting himself fall to the floor with him in a heap of tangled limbs.

Slowly, slowly, Keith started to feel the pain again. It ebbed at his soul like molten lava, searing away at his insides even as the heat was extinguished. He gasped as the stabbing pain in his lungs cleared, and he felt Lance move to hold him back. They lay there, withering on the floor, but their strength was returning.

Once Keith's breathing had calmed a bit he pulled his head back to look at Lance. "Are- are you ok?" He panted.

Lance's blue eyes were hooded and exhausted, his lips were purple, but he nodded jaggedly. Lance shivered and Keith held him tighter, nuzzling into his neck as best he could with their bulky armor in the way.

It took several minutes for them to rouse, for Keith to realize that the team was still standing around them worriedly. He pulled away a bit, despite how his heart screamed at him to just stay with Lance, and helped him sit up, practically on top of Keith.

"Are you guys ok?!" Hunk burst out like he'd been waiting a lifetime to ask.

"Yeah." Keith croaked. His throat felt sore, but each passing moment with Lance healed it a bit more. The coppery taste of blood vanished.

"I'm ok now…" Lance murmured, tucking himself into Keith's side. Keith tried to control his racing pulse. He wished Lance would stay at his side willingly instead of just to keep screaming pain at bay.

Lance looked up at him and his eyes widened. "Keith, you're bleeding!" He started looking around him for wounds. "Where are you hurt?" He demanded, hands roaming his torso.

Keith sucked in a breath and grabbed Lance's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He honestly wanted Lance's hands all over him like that, but there's a firm time and place. "Hey I'm good now." He promised with a soft smile. "It's not hurting anymore." Keith closed his eyes and pressed Lance's gloved hand to his cheek.

He felt Lance let out a shaky breath and move closer, pulling with the hand on his cheek to bring their foreheads together. They both sighed in relief that the contact brought. Not from the physical pain, but the emotional toll their worry for the other had taken on them.

There was a cough from above them. They jumped, but barely pulled away, looking up at the mischievous smiles of their friends. Keith glowered and Lance huffed in annoyance.

"What I don't get…" Pidge said, adjusting her glasses. "Is that that battle lasted thirty minutes. You guys looked like death coming out of your lions."

Keith glanced at Lance. His lips were a rosy pink, no longer purple. Like he'd been in the freezing cold for too long. "Ok and…?" Keith watched Lance's lips move as he asked. He dragged his eyes back up to Pidge.

"Well, how did you guys get through the last week? You had to sleep, a whole- what- eight hours every night without dying?" She asked, her scientific voice showing through, but it held a tinge of worry. She'd been really scared.

Keith glanced over at Lance, met his eyes. He was given a goofy little smile and chuckled back. "Um, let's just say Lance's bed is comfy…" Keith avoided looking up at the stunned, wide eyes of their group.

"What the fu-" Shiro slapped his human hand over Pidge's mouth.

"Pidge!" He cried.

She yanked his hand away. "Well what do you want me to say when we find out these two have been canoodling in each other's quarters!" She yelled.

Keith choked on air. "Canoodling?!" He exclaimed.

"We didn't-!" Lance yelled.

"That's not what it was!" Keith nodded along spastically, trying to convince them that they had it all wrong.

"Ohh, ho, ho, like I'm gonna believe that when you two are still in each other's laps!" Pidge pointed accusingly and- sure enough, Lance had somehow made it completely into Keith's lap, his legs wrapped around Keith's torso and locked behind his back.

They both flushed but made no move to change their position. "Pidge, if we're not touching it hurts! It feels like we're dying!" Lance tried to explain.

"Oh I could imagine." She nodded along with mock sympathy, a teasing grin on her lips. "Playing hide the sausage would make you two want to be extra clos-"

"Pidge!" Shiro's hand was back over her mouth. His face was red and he was avoiding looking at Keith and Lance.

Keith groaned and shut his eyes.

Shiro choked. "Oh my god, please don't make that noise when you two are… like that!"

Keith gave him the evil eye, but blushed nonetheless. This should have made them want to get away from each other, but Keith's arms and Lance's legs tightened around each other at the same time. They both pouted up at the team.

"Come on Hunk, you believe us?" Lance asked hopefully.

Hunk blushed and tapped his pointer fingers together nervously. "Don't drag me into this!" He whimpered. Lance stared in shock.

"Hunk!"

"Well look at you! You two barely get along one day, and the next you're," he waved a hand at them. "Like this! What changed?"

Keith blushed profusely. "There's a magic spell on us you dinks!"

They all stared at him. That was the first time Keith had burst at them since this whole ordeal started.

Lance giggled a bit. "Dinks..." he giggled some more, and Keith felt his anger simmer into an odd sort of exasperated giddiness. He joined in, laughing and tucking his face into Lance's shoulder, mostly to escape the situation with the team. Partly because he always wanted to be so close to Lance, and now he could. The others let their laughter slip out, officially dispersing the tension from the air.

Keith let his laughter die out with his forehead still on Lance's shoulder. He felt the other boy's sigh on his neck.

Shiro turned to Pidge and Hunk. "Ok, you two are going to go get cleaned up and I'm going to go make myself a nice glass of something alcoholic." Shiro rubbed his forehead. "You two." He turned to Keith and Lance. "Are going to go sit down somewhere and talk. About…" he gestured vaguely. "This. I'll ask Coran to get some chest scans ready for you both. You're gonna kill me one of these days, my hair used to be completely black!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Yay new update. Honestly, this is so much fun to write, check out the end for more notes! On to the story!**

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Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk disappeared, leaving the two boys in each others laps on the floor. Keith sighed heavily against Lance's shoulder, moving to bury his nose in his neck. "Do we have to move?" Keith had crossed his legs underneath Lance, leaving a little space for him to sit, and Lance's legs were still wrapped around Keith's waist. Keith had his arms around Lance's waist and Lance held him around his shoulders. They were ridiculously comfortable.

He felt Lance shake his head against the crook of his neck. "Nuh-uh, I'm not moving."

Keith laughed a bit. This was… so weird. Weeks ago, Keith thought Lance hated him. Now, they'd hugged, held hands, slept together (slept next to the other, get out of the gutters you heathens), cuddled, had several nice meals together - which hadn't included an eating competition, for once - and were now officially attached at every point of contact currently possible. So, yeah. Weird that they'd grown so close so fast. What had changed between them? Was the forced proximity really enough to make them get along for more than five minutes?

...No, Keith decided. They'd always had such high potential of being an amazing team, now they'd been forced to act together, in sync, like a well-oiled machine. Keith just hoped it would last... He didn't want to lose what they had now. He didn't want to lose Lance. He just hoped that Lance wouldn't hate him when he eventually had to come clean to him to break the spell.

But... weren't they going to talk about that... NOW? Keith's smile dropped as the reality of the situation hit him. He had to tell Lance that he liked him. He had to tell Lance NOW. Keith felt his pulse pick up, fear and anxiety coursing through his veins. Lance seemed to pick up on his mood shift, lightly rubbing his hands up and along Keith's spine, making his nerves stand on end... but also soothing them? Keith didn't bother trying to think that through to something comprehensible. Instead, he sucked in a steadying breath.

"We should try to talk about this anyway."

Keith startled away from Lance's shoulder, meeting his wide eyes. They'd just said the same thing at the same time. Again.

"Can you read my mind?" They both said, their anxiety clear on their faces. They jumped and both brought a hand up to their mouths at the same time. Lance giggled behind his hand and Keith submitted to his own laughter.

Keith furrowed his brows. If Lance started hearing his thoughts, he may not be able to keep his love for Lance to himself much longer.

He paused. Love? Keith /loved/ Lance? He'd never been in love before... but this seemed real. All he knew was that his heart sped up when Lance was in the room, that it threatened to stop every time they put themselves in danger, and it had nearly burst just now, seeing Lance on the floor, motionless.

Shaking his head, he decided to tuck that contemplation away for a later time.

Lance's laughter calmed and Keith rolled his eyes to hide his smile. "I know a place we can talk…"

Lance looked at him. "Does that mean I have to get up?" He pouted.

Keith raised a flirty eyebrow. "Are you dying?"

"Yes." Lance's pout deepened. Keith chuckled and helped them both to their feet.

"Technically, we both just were…" Lance saw a bit of Keith's blood had rubbed onto their armor and cringed. "Can we change first?"

Keith looked down and frowned. "Yeah, let's get out of this."

After departing at their respective rooms, Keith quickly found himself sprinting next door into Lance's room without a shirt on, effectively tackling Lance. Again.

"Woah! At least take me to dinner first, Keithy." Lance laughed, but his hands were all over the planes of Keith's back. Keith let out a small mumble, half-embarrassed, half-scolding Lance.

Lance stifled a laugh as Keith pulled back a bit. "You own joggers?" He asked, inspecting Keith's grey sweats and the black t-shirt he'd barely grabbed before he'd run from his room.

Keith blushed, pulled away to put his shirt on. "I got tired of sleeping in jeans."

Lance shrugged. "I don't blame you." He pointed down at his own sweats and t-shirt. "These are like comfiness-to-the-max."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Dweeb."

"Rude!" Lance smacked Keith's shoulder lightly.

Keith ducked away, chuckling. He let his laughter die down before meeting Lance's eyes. He let his guard down, let himself be open. It was Lance. There was very little that would faze him. Keith knew that they'd be fine after all this. If anything, he still had Lance as a best friend.

"Follow me, Sharpshooter." He held up his hand for Lance to take. Lance hesitated, and Keith was sure he wasn't imagining the lovely blush on Lance's cheeks. He slipped his hand into Keith's, drawing close to him so Lance could hug him. Keith was shocked, to say the least, but quickly returned the embrace. They sat in the quiet of Lance's room for a moment. Keith felt Lance's breath on his skin, felt his fingertips dig into his back, felt the strength of his hold, and knew that Lance was just as scared of losing their friendship as he was. "Hey..." Keith nudged closer against Lance's skin. "No matter what, you're our Sharpshooter. My blue paladin. My best friend. Nothing will change that."

Lance let out a small sigh of relief and nodded against Keith's shoulder. He pulled away softly, chuckled slightly before meeting Keith's eyes. "And you say you're not good with words..." Keith didn't know what to say, so he took Lance's hand and ed them deep into the halls of the castle. He paused outside a door and it swished open quietly.

Lance gasped at the view before him. The whole wall was made of glass, several feet thick and no doubt impenetrable. But the galaxies beyond the glass took his breath away. "Wow…" he breathed. "How'd you know about this place?" Lance turned wide eyes to Keith.

He shrugged. "I explored the whole castle in our first week out here. I like having a good feel of my surroundings, and I knew I'd get lost if I didn't memorize the place." In fact Keith had gotten lost. Several times. It was embarrassing enough to stumble into Coran all those times and have to ask for directions back to his room. Coran had given him a map of the castle so he wouldn't get lost in the belly of the monstrous ship quite so often.

Lance laughed in awe and stepped further into the room, tugging Keith along.

"There's actually four other rooms in the castle like this one, out of around two thousand."

Keith found those wide blue eyes back on his. "Two thousand?" Lance gaped.

Keith nodded. "This place is massive. It's like a double cruise ship in space."

Lance smiled at that. Lance suddenly looked nervous. "Ok…" He said, mostly to himself. He shook his head, still uneasy. "Ok. So we're supposed to talk."

Keith just nodded and tugged on their joined hands so that they could sit on a step that spanned the room in a semicircle facing the window. Despite mentioning having a talk, both just stared up at the stars together in quiet. It was a long while before Lance said anything. "So… we're friends right?" He asked, avoiding Keith's eyes.

Keith swallowed. "Yeah." He was glad to be just friends with Lance. "We're friends. Best friends. Teammates. We work really well together, if these last few weeks are anything to go by. i'd do anything for you." He shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, but failing miserably.

Lance's eyes met his. There was so much depth there that Keith felt he couldn't possibly be imagining the affection from Lance. "I'd do anything for you, too." There was a pause, and then Lance slipped his hand from Keith's.

Thirty seconds later they were both in pain and wheezing. They quickly latched on to each other's hands again.

"So that's not all we have to say…" Lance murmured and Keith felt dread hollow out his chest. He wanted to stall the inevitable. Push it back so that he didn't ruin the friendship he had just earned with Lance.

"What does it feel like for you?" He asked quietly, rubbing the pain in his chest away with his free hand.

Lance considered for a moment. "Like… like this ice is forming in my chest." He rubbed a hand over his heart. "And it grows and spreads to the rest of my body. It's like getting hypothermia, but you can feel the crackling pain. It feels like my cells are splitting apart. And it feels like something's trying to break through out of my arms and legs, like it's trying to snap through my bones and tear through my skin." He stared at his hand, the one that held Keith's. "Yours?"

Keith sighed. "Like there's a whole circus full of elephants sitting on my chest. A fire burns through my lungs and it feels like there's shards of glass stabbing them every time I breathe. It spreads and burns like lava until I can't breathe, can't see, can't taste, or hear. It sucks." Keith frowned.

"Seems like we're both pretty miserable without each other." Lance murmured, maybe as a joke. But Keith could hear an underlying truth there. Their silence relapsed as they moved closer to each other subtly and looked back out to the stars. It took a long time for either of them to have the courage to speak, but it was Lance who broke the silence.

"Back at the Garrison, the first time I saw you, I was impressed. You were sharp, witty, talked back to Iverson like no other, and were an incredible pilot. I-" Lance swallowed. "I wanted to be your /friend/. But I never got the chance to talk to you. You were always busy, too busy to take a moment to bother talking to someone like me, so I guess that's when I started to see you as a rival." Lance looked down at his lap. "I thought that if I could catch up to you, maybe even match your scores, you'd see me as someone valuable enough to talk to. But I could never keep up." Lance sighed. "You just kept setting your own bar higher and higher every time you beat your own best score, and that made my goal unreachable. Which wasn't your fault, but I chose to be angry at you instead of trying to understand you."

Keith stared in shock. He'd never known that about Lance... he rubbed the cuban's hand with his thumb in small, comforting circles, like Lance had done for him before. Lance took a steadying breath and continued. "And then Shiro disappeared, and then you did too. Everyone else stopped talking about it after a while, but I always thought back to you. The amazing fighter pilot that punched James Griffin and took one of Iverson's stupid little beady eyes on his way out. The kid I wanted to know and be friends with." There was a beat of silence as Lance collected his thoughts.

"When I saw you out in the desert that night, I immediately recognized you. I'd know that stupid mullet anywhere-" he choked on a laugh. Keith smiled and rolled his eyes, but squeezed his hand reassuringly. "And I thought that was my chance. To help you. To be seen by you. So we rushed in to help, and found Shiro there. You looked so cool with your stupid bandana and surrounded by a bunch of knocked out scientists. Like, badass. And I wasn't surprised when you didn't remember me. I didn't think you would-"

"I lied." Keith cut in.

Lance stared at him, startled. "What?"

"I lied. I did remember you." He kept his eyes down, not daring to look Lance in the eye. "I just… was nervous. I was always too nervous and awkward to talk to you at the Garrison, so I avoided you. I wanted to know you, too. I wanted to be… friends." He stumbled over "friends" because that wasn't the whole truth. He'd thought Lance was cute and attractive even when he was a little peanut at the Garrison. He just was so awkward and scared that he ran away. "And when I saw you walk in, it was like my brain just stalled, and I was too awkward to admit that I knew you." Keith smiled bitterly, finally braving Lance's soft gaze. "I was a jerk. Sorry."

Lance smiled back a bit. Keith went on, focusing on a spot on the floor, trying to keep his courage now that he'd started talking. "But then we were flying off into space, and I was seriously kind of jealous at how you were flying the Blue lion when I'd been feeling the pull from her for so long. I was jealous of you, and I said you were the worst pilot ever. But you weren't. I just didn't have a seat belt, and earth's gravity was much different in the lions than it was in space." Lance laughed at that. "And then we got thrown into a war and you adapted so quickly and you flirted with Allura and that all pissed me off and so I didn't have much trouble reacting to the jabs you took at me." Lance was quiet. "And then we all grew together, and you and I got closer, and I thought we were friends, but sometimes you still act like you hate me and I don't know how you feel about me anymore." Keith frowned at the ground. "You're an amazing pilot, and I want us to be f-friends" he stumbled over that word again. "But sometimes you make that really hard." His voice cracked a bit and he cursed himself.

Lance's hand squeezed in his. "I'm sorry that I've been a jerk. I just… keep thinking that I'm over my jealousy, that we're on equal grounds. But we're not, and it makes me feel small again. But I shouldn't take it out on you. It's not your fault I'm a hindrance to the team. And I know that-"

"Wait what?" Keith held up his free hand. "Lance, you're not a hindrance to the team! You're our sharpshooter, our Blue paladin. You bring so much to our team."

Lance looked down bitterly. "I'm a one hit wonder. Sure, I can hit a target sometimes but I- I'm not good at being a paladin. I'm too goofy. Immature. Stupid." His voice grew weak.

"/Lance/." Keith stressed, bringing Lance's eyes up to meet his with a gentle finger hooked under his chin. "You are so important to our team. If you weren't here, Voltron wouldn't have formed in the first place, wouldn't have stuck together this long. You're the glue that keeps us together, the jokester that knows how to handle situations and bring us back to reality in the best way. You handle all the diplomatic bull better than everyone... except maybe Allura, who's a literal princess and made for that stuff. You're important to us. You're important to me." He squeezed his hand.

Lance blinked at him. "Is that why you got pissed that I flirted with Allura?" He asked blatantly.

Keith startled back. "W-what?" He felt a blush creeping up his neck. Oh no, oh crap why had he said that? He was so screwed.

Keith…" Lance held his eyes, deathly serious. "You're my friend. My teammate. My red paladin. Someone I look up to. Someone that pushes me to be better." Keith felt himself being pulled into those blue, blue eyes, a sea of emotions swirling beneath that he couldn't even begin to navigate. "You're handsome, infuriating, and you bring out my better parts. I want to stay by your side forever." Keith swallowed thickly.

"Yeah?" He leaned closer.

"Yeah, Samurai." Lance whispered back, tilting his head closer to Keith's.

"Lance.." Keith breathed, heart pounding, but it wasn't because of the elephants. His eyes flicked down to those rosy lips, drawing ever closer. He could feel the brush of Lance's breath on his mouth. "I think I…" he locked eyes with Lance and at that moment they both knew.

"I think I love you." Lance whispered.

Keith's eyes fell closed as he surged forward to capture Lance's mouth, like he'd been aching to do for so long.

It was like an electric shock, throwing all thought out the window except those of Lance. The hot mouth on his, the brush of Lance's shaky exhale on his cheek, the hands coming up to his waist, his neck.

Keith's brain slipped into pure bliss as he finally tasted those soft lips. Keith pressed into him, bringing his hand up to cup his face as their mouths moved together. Lance pushed back and then he was in Keith's lap, their tongues dancing as Lance's fingertips brushed down Keith's chest.

If this was a dream, Keith didn't ever want to wake up. Lance's fingers threaded through his hair and their bodies pushed closer, closer so that they were pressed flush against the other. Keith pulled back to kiss a line down Lance's jaw toward his ear, where he tasted the lush skin of Lance's neck. This pulled a long groan from the boy in his lap as he tilted his head back to give Keith better access.

They melted together under their ministrations, caught up in hands and mouths and heat. Keith pulled away from the hollow of Lance's collar bone to purr against his skin. "Is there anything else you want to say, Sharpshooter?" His tongue flicked out to run over a newly formed hickey.

Lance's breathing stuttered and the hands in Keith's hair pulled their faces back together. "I love you." Lance murmured, their lips brushing. "And I'll love you tomorrow," he dipped closer, their lips catching together, spreading fire. "And the day after that," a deep kiss. "And forever after that." Lance slotted their lips together again and again, refusing to let Keith slip from his grip.

The noises Lance made rumbled through Keith's chest and filled him up to the brim. Keith let a possessive growl slip through and Lance pulled away a bit, puffing and panting. "That's so hot." He whispered. Keith laughed and kissed him hard - because he had to after that. They pulled back a bit, kisses becoming sweet and less urgent, letting their hands explore delicately. Fingers danced over shoulders, traced up their backs. Just little memorizations of the other that made them both shiver with anticipation for the future.

"Should we see if that satisfied the spell?" Keith whispered, his voice low and husky.

Lance hummed and something flashed in his eyes. Worry? "Only if you promise me another kiss after we see…" he leaned in to Keith again for a couple little kisses.

Keith grinned. "I promise. Many more kisses."

Lance made a small disappointed noise as he backed off of Keith's lap. They waited a minute. Then five. Then a bit longer.

There was no pain.

Keith met Lance's gaze and smiled, holding his arms out to him, and Lance quickly filled the space again.

A couple more blissful kisses later, and Lance pulled back a bit, setting their foreheads together. "So, mullet, what's my title?"

Keith gave him a confused look. "Title?"

Lance blew an exasperated breath. "Like what am I? Space bae? Alien bootycall? Future Ms. Universe? Boyfriend? A little friend from the other sid-"

Keith took Lance's hand in his and pressed a kiss to his palm, effectively cutting him off. "Boyfriend sounds nice." He murmured into Lance's skin. Lance gaped with wide eyes, mouth open, but no sound came out.

"Y-yeah?" Lance breathed, staring at where Keith's lips made contact with his skin. Now, Keith could tell that he was blushing and grinned.

"Yeah, Sharpshooter." He pressed another kiss into Lance's hand and set it gently in his lap before moving in to capture his lips again. Keith pulled away and quirked an eyebrow at Lance's silence. "What? Got nothing to say for once?"

Lance frowned. "Shut up." But he leaned in to Keith again. "You hurt my feelings." Lance said in between kisses. "Now you gotta kiss 'em better."

Keith laughed and returned the kiss. "I will, love, I promise." And if Lance didn't just melt at that pet name. He whined and buried his face in Keith's shoulder in embarrassment.

"Too cute. Too cute. I can't handle that Keith, you gotta play fair!" Keith just laughed and held him closer.

Keith fulfilled his promise, and then some before they sat back and watched the galaxies float by outside the window, snuggled up to each other. Keith could hardly believe it was real. That had just happened. He had kissed Lance. Lance loved him. Lance was in his lap and nuzzling his neck like an attention deprived puppy.

After a long while of basking in the glow of their new relationship, Keith felt the cold of the room seeping into his butt. "Want to have another sleepover?" He smiled. "My ass is numb."

"Pfft." Lance giggled against the crook of his neck. "Your room or mine?" Lance moved his head up to murmur near his lips.

Keith grinned. "Yours. It's warmer than mine. More homey."

Lance laughed and hauled him up as he stood, placing a sweet kiss to Keith's lips before dragging him back to his room.

"When should we tell the others that the spell is gone?" Lance asked as they navigated the halls of the castle.

Keith shrugged. "They'll find out soon enough." A grin stole over his face.

Lance gave him a scrutinizing look. "What are you planning you sneaky little samurai?"

Keith leaned into him, effectively stopping their journey for a kiss, one that left Lance breathless and scrambled when Keith pulled away. "Don't worry about it." Lance just nodded like a bobble head, a goofy smile on his lips. Keith grinned and pecked Lance's lips before tugging them towards Lance's room.

They tumbled onto the small bed in a tangle of limbs and kisses and giggles. Neither wanted to sleep, for fear of what the morning would bring, so they just wrapped each other up in an almost desperate embrace. "I'll still love you in the morning." Keith promised into the quiet of the night, unable to keep his eyes open any longer.

"...I'll still love you in the morning." Was Lance's promise in return. And then sleep pulled them both under.

•••

Keith woke to feather-light kisses on his forehead and cheeks. He smiled and managed to tilt his head up so Lance could access his lips.

He sighed into the kiss, feeling the cloud-like softness of Lance's mouth. What a way to wake up. He whined pathetically when Lance pulled away, felt the airy brush of Lance's chuckles against his face, and pouted.

"Aw, don't be grumpy." Lance giggled. He slanted his lips over Keith's without warning, making him groan and press into him. Lance pulled away teasingly, and Keith's eyes opened to show his disapproval.

"You're being mean." Keith grumbled. Lance laughed.

"Good morning Mr. Fussypants."

"It'd be a better morning if you would just kiss me." He smiled despite himself. Lance giggled, but obliged, pressing a searing kiss to Keith's lips. Keith felt his mind burn, his blood rushing and heart pounding.

In an instant, Keith hovered over Lance, who stared up at him with wonder and anticipation. His lips were red and a bit kiss-swollen and looked so appetizing. His t-shirt had shifted to the side to show where Keith had marked his perfect, golden skin with hickeys the night before. His curly hair rough and tousled from sleep, and his blue eyes were deep, dark oceans with blown out pupils and half mast lids.

Keith took in his every feature. "Beautiful…" he murmured before he realized he'd said it out loud. Lance stared at him. He stared back, watching his face turn red.

Lance whined and hid behind his hands below him. Keith shook off his embarrassment because he knew he'd spoken the truth, and pulled Lance's hands from his face gently. "You are…" he smiled sheepishly down at his blushing boyfriend.

Lance pouted up at him. "It's too early for you to be sweet and suave." Keith snorted and leaned into him again. Lance sighed and relaxed into the white sheets, hands coming up to weave through his hair. Keith relished in the light scratch against his scalp, the subtle pull of his hair in Lance's hands. He pulled away to rest their foreheads together, panting slightly. "You know, for someone who hates my hair, you sure do seem to like it." He grinned impishly.

Lance scowled. "Shut up mullet. Your hair is perfect. And soft. What shampoo do you even use?" He growled, but softly fingered a lock of Keith's hair.

Keith laughed and brushed his fingers along Lance's cheek, moving down to cup his jaw. "I'll show you… eventually." Keith gave him a look that meant he'd show Lance in the shower.

Lance let out a shaky breath. "You're gonna kill me. I'm gonna be dead and it's gonna be your fault." He grouched. Keith barked out a laugh, letting his head dip down to rest on Lance's shoulder, effectively squishing Lance with the rest of his body.

"You're comfy." He nuzzled into Lance's neck.

"You're heavy." Lance complained, but contradicted himself by wrapping his arms around Keith's waist to hold him tighter. Keith chuckled. He pressed a kiss to Lance's neck, then another, and another, until he was trailing kisses up to his jaw. Lance's breathing stuttered with each one, making Keith laugh against his skin.

"You're very cute, Mr. McClain." Keith ghosted his lips across Lance's jawline.

Lance puffed out a nervous breath. "Yeah, yeah, you're pretty fucking sexy, Mr. Kogane." Keith felt his chest swell.

"Oh really?" He teased against Lance's mouth.

Lance grinned. "Oh yeah, baby." He winked cheesily and Keith huffed exasperatedly.

"Hey, guess what?" Keith whispered conspiratorially.

Lance's eyes widened a fraction in curiosity. "What?"

Keith grinned at him, pecking his lips softly, nuzzling his nose. "It's morning." He kissed Lance again. "And I still love you…"

When he met Lance's eyes again, they were brimming with happiness and hope for their future. "Good morning, Samurai." He smiled, and in that moment, everything was perfect. Keith had complete faith in their future and would never ever let go of this boy.

"Good morning. I still love you."

* * *

**I'm cry,, this was so fun to write and you all have been so sweet in comments, favs, and follows. Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you thought of it, and if u want to see more works! (check out mimi_l_imim on instagram so we can chat about voltron, writing, drawing, other fun shows, I'm always down!) lmk if a spin-off would be fun, or just other voltron works! much love! (also on AO3)**


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